What's your best guess on a timeframe for seeing high-speed rail in the US?

[cherokeeprogressive]

Given that environmental studies will take time, Eminent Domain fights will take time, engineering will take time, and construction will also take time, how long do you think it will be before passengers and/or freight will be zipping along the plains and coastal regions of this great land?

I believe none of these things can be accomplished concurrently, with the possible exception of the court battles and the engineering, so factor that into your estimate.

Personally, I see no use of high-speed rail in this country inside of 15 years.

I will be the first to agree though, that the process HAS to begin somewhere, and laud President Obama for making it more of a possibility than it was yesterday at this moment. I do think it's important though for people to understand that it's not a matter of "So let it be written, so let it be done".

[SlingBlade]

1. I didn't see an option for "Never"

But what the hell.

[Edweird]

2. Seconded. Never.

[HeresyLives]

3. Nothing like the pioneer spirit.

Was there this kind of attitude to JFK's man on the moon proposal?

[katandmoon]

6. That was different. "We" had to beat the Russians to the moon.

[HeresyLives]

9. Well the rest of the world is beating you snotless

on high-speed trains.

Where's yer pride?

[katandmoon]

12. Exactly. It's already been done.

[HeresyLives]

14. So no outdoing anyone?

It's first, or nothing?

Where does this leave the US?

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. End all the occupations, bring all the troops home.

Spend the money on infrastructure.

[NYC_SKP]

7. Do both, trains are infrastructure, soldiers will need jobs. Good combo. n/t

[spoony]

34. Great idea. nt

[NYC_SKP]

5. We already have 200 mph Acela trains, we just can't run them that fast, yet.

The Acela Express: Aboard America’s Fastest Train

(snip)... Acela is the faster train between New York and Washington, making the trip typically in about 2 hours 45 minutes. Riders pay a premium for the experience, $200 for a one-way ticket during peak hours. A Northeast Regional train costs half as much and makes the trip, depending on the train, in 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 40 minutes. Not a huge difference, but if time is money or you’re measuring the train against a shuttle flight or want more luxury, fewer stops and a smoother ride, then Acela is worth it.

Each Acela train set of two locomotives, a café, and four coaches carries 304 passengers. Amtrak bought twenty train sets for $600 million from a consortium of Bombardier in Quebec and Alstom of France. The components were manufactured abroad and assembled in Vermont and New York to create some jobs in America.

Because of Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) safety requirements, an Acela train is nearly twice as heavy as France’s TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse— French for high-speed train), which is also manufactured by Alstom.

Acela’s floor is reinforced to protect against debris on the tracks. Unlike Europe’s high-speed corridors, the Northeast Corridor is only partially fenced; it even crosses some highways at grade. Amtrak wanted to run a push-pull configuration, but the FRA under the Clinton administration said a cab car did not meet crashworthiness standards, so another locomotive was added at the other end. The train is overpowered. Even with a single locomotive, the Acela can run at 200 mph, but FRA rules do not allow speeds above 150 mph on tracks shared with freights and slower passenger trains. Acela averages just 80-some mph, and rarely goes faster than 130 for small stretches. Its speed is limited by curves, tight confines in tunnels—especially in Baltimore—freight traffic, and other drawbacks that make true high-speed performance impossible. The high-speed corridors in Europe and Japan are straight, level, sealed from intrusion, and set aside solely for fast passenger trains. To create such a corridor in the Northeast with its dense population would cost tens of billions of dollars and require the purchase or condemnation of more land and neighborhoods...(snip)

http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/the-acela-express-aboard-americas-fastest-train/

[liberal N proud]

8. IF and only IF an effort was put to it like the Apollo project...

We could then see meaningful, substantial construction that would result in a functional system in 10 years maybe 15. It would have to be a huge public works effort to accomplish with 10's of thousands of contractors working in concert across the country with one plan.

[Throd]

17. There were no NIMBY's on the moon

[liberal N proud]

19. Or competition with auto manufactures, oil companies and airlines

who would most likely lose some customers with high speed rail.

[Berry Cool]

27. Yeah, and people's attitude toward this "moon project" seems to be

"Why should I pay taxes to have rockets sent to the moon, when I can drive to the moon myself in my own personal gas-guzzling car whenever I want?"

[FSogol]

10. Attn fellow DU-ers: You are all overly cynical.

I vote 5 years. I've seen proposals to do the engineering work for a high speed line running along route 81 in Virginia. Design and and breaking ground should take 2-3 years.

[flvegan]

11. I can imagine that the Tampa to Orlando I4 rail will be up within 5-7 years.

[Kaleva]

13. High speed rail is economically feasible in certain corridors,

Across the continent, it can't compete against air.

[HeresyLives]

15. It is everywhere else.

[Kaleva]

18. As far as I know, there is no high speed rail service crossing a continent.

[HeresyLives]

20. No, just Europe and China and Japan.

Airfares have dropped trying to stay in the game.

It's faster, cleaner and cheaper to go by high-speed rail.

[Kaleva]

21. There is no high speed rail service across China.

Just in certain corridors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_China

Japan is about the size of California.

Here is a map showing the high speed rail lines in Europe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe

You'll see that one cannot travel from the Atlantic to the Urals solely on high speed rail.

[HeresyLives]

22. No, they're building one all across China

Fastest in the world

Check this out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8406910.stm

[Kaleva]

25. The report doesn't say the proposed lines will cross China.

[HeresyLives]

26. Sigh. Why is this such a problem?

As of October 2009, China is constructing a 13,000 km high speed railway network comprising of 42 passenger lines. When this is completed by 2012, it will be larger and technologically more sophisticated than the rest of the world's HSR track combined.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail#Target_areas_for_high-speed_trains

n 2009, the People's Republic of China announced plans to build 35 high-speed routes by 2012. Around 13,000 km of high-speed railways, capable of handling trains at between 200 and 350 km/h would be completed and put into service by 2012. Mainland China’s railways were among the main beneficiaries of the government's 4-trillion-yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package. China has built three routes, about 1600 km of track capable of handling 350 km/h trains so far: Beijing–Tianjin, Wuhan–Guangzhou and Zhengzhou–Xi'an.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_China

Also:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe

[Kaleva]

31. It's not a problem.

What I'm saying is that we will not see direct high speed rail service from Los Angeles to New York City.

[HeresyLives]

32. Then that means the US is over as a nation.

Because it's certainly doable.

[Kaleva]

36. It's doable but not economical at this time

The distance between the two cities is about 2462 air miles and 2,778 driving miles. It takes about 5-6 hours to travel by air and it'd take a high speed train close to 10 hrs non-stop. I am unaware of any high speed railroad in the world (in service or proposed) that travels that amount of distance and that long of a time.

[HeresyLives]

37. And the moon shot was?

High-speed rail is as fast as a plane, and much more comfortable.

The length of the trip in miles has no bearing on the ability to build one.

[Raine]

16. Give money to Amtrak it's already here

but it's always treated like some "red-headed bastard child". :argh:

[MorningGlow]

23. There's a big push in NYS

for a high-speed rail line from Buffalo to Albany. It's been going on for a couple of years.

Too bad nobody told the state politicians clamoring for it that nobody from the western part of the state is interested in going to Albany, then not having transportation once they get there, and vice versa.
:rofl:

[unkachuck]

24. I think high-speed-rail is going to happen nationwide....

....but it will take time, at least 15-20 years....if/when the recovery occurs, watch how the oil companies jack-up the price of a gallon of gas....and then there's terrorism....

....many people are already giving up on air-travel because of the security hassle....true, you can knock a train off it's tracks but you can't fly one into a skyscraper....

[MadBadger]

28. Wisconsin is hoping to have trains up and running by early 2013

I'll say 2014, so four years.

[quiller4]

30. Same time frame for Washington-the land is already available

negotiations began with Burlington Northern years ago.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. So, is it available, or is its availability being negotiated with Burlington Northern?

Apart from that, what's the status of the environmental impact studies?

[customerserviceguy]

29. There's one thing that will grease the skids under high speed rail

And that's the indignities of airline flight. Having to strip down just to prove you're not a terrorist, then sitting in a butt-vice with some screaming seat-kicker behind you (who is riding for free, even though you're paying 40-55 bucks for your luggage, which isn't disturbing anyone) is going to make me seriously consider high speed rail for my future trips between coasts, if it can become a reality.

[Blue_In_AK]

33. We don't even have roads yet.

Alaska's highway system...and several of these "highways" are gravel.



That's it.

It'll be a long, long time before there's highspeed rail here.

[Initech]

38. Not in Cali anytime soon. Here, people vote with their Mercedes.